Method for charging molding material in elastic molding die

Abstract: In charging a fluid molding material in an elastic molding die (1) composed of a die body (2) having an opening (3) and a film-formed die support portion (4) extending from the opening (3) to the outside by pouring the molding material from the opening (3) into the die body (2), the molding material in an amount of 1/5 to 3/5 of a volume of the die body (2) is first charged, a molding material-charged portion (7) of the die body (2) is then crumpled or pinched, and then the entire die body is filled up with the molding material, thereby charging the fluid molding material in the die body of the elastic molding die without occurrence of air voids.

Description: This invention relates to a method for charging a molding material in an elastic molding die comprised of a hollow die body having an opening and a film-formed die support portion extending from said opening to the outside wherein pouring of said fluid molding material from said opening into said die body comprises the following method steps: (a) first charging 1/5 to 3/5 of the volume of said die body with a first quantity of the molding material; (b) processing the portion charged with the first quantity of the molding material; and (c) then charging the remainder of the volume of said die body by filling up the entire portion of said die body with the molding material; The elastic material of which the molding die can be made is e.g. rubber. Heretofore, there has been known a method for molding a fluid molding material using an elastic molding die. In this method, using an elastic molding die comprising a hollow body (molding die) having an opening and a film-formed die support portion, for example, conically extending continuously from the opening to the outside, a fluid molding material is poured into the molding die from the opening to fill in the die, heated or cooled to solidify the molding material, and then the solidified molding is removed from the elastic molding die through the opening utilizing the elasticity of the molding die. This molding method is suitable for molding chocolate, jelly, cheese, boiled fish paste, lipsticks, and the like, compared to a molding method using a rigid split molding die, and the resulting molding has a good appearance and the molding cost is low. However, this method involves various problems in charging the fluid molding material in the elastic molding die body. For example, when molding chocolate by the method, since molten chocolate has a viscosity of 5,000 to 12,000 cps, it is difficult to charge the material to fine-structured corners of the die body. That is, an air void occurs in a small projection in the die body, which is hard to be filled with chocolate. As a result, surface irregularities or pinholes occur in the molding, resulting in an inferior appearance, and it is difficult to obtain a product of a predetermined design. To eliminate such defects, a method has been proposed in which the entire elastic molding die is covered with a cup having a hole, the cup is evacuated from the hole to inflate the elastic molding die and, with the elastic molding die in the inflated condition, the molding material is poured from the opening into the elastic molding die (Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication (OPI) 63-312112). Furthermore, a method of the type mentioned in the beginning and according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from EP-A-0 395 756. Since in this known method the filling material is provided in an amount about half the necessary amount to be filled in an elastic mold, then the mold is pressed from both sides by a pressing unit to release the air contained therein, it is difficult to release completely air bubbles remaining in the precise pattern of the mold. A primary object of the present invention is to provide a method for charging a fluid molding material in the body of an elastic molding die without occurrence of air voids and eliminating the above problems. In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method of the type mentioned in the beginning, which is characterized in that said processing is a crumpling operation made such that the portion of the die body charged with the first quantity of the molding material is passed between (i) two plates or (ii) conveyor belts disposed in two rows or (iii) rollers disposed in two rows so that there are wider portions at the inlet and at the outlet and the portion between them is narrower. In a preferred embodiment the portion of the die body charged with the first quantity of the molding material is passed between the plates or conveyor belts or rollers disposed so that a central portion between the inlet and the outlet is the narrowest. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig.1 is a schematic cross sectional view showing a charging condition of the molding material in the elastic molding die according to the present invention; Fig.2 is a schematic perspective view showing a condition using two plates in the present invention; Fig.3 is a schematic perspective view showing a condition using two sets of conveyor belts in the present invention; Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a condition using two rows of roller arrays in the present invention. Best Mode for Practicing the Invention The present invention will now be described further in detail. In charging the elastic molding die with a fluid molding material, the molding material in an amount of 1/5 to 3/5 to the volume of the die body is poured in the die body. In the pouring operation, an end of the die support portion of the elastic molding die is held on a ring-formed frame with the die body hung down, and the molding material is poured from the opening of the die body. Fig.1 is a schematic cross sectional view showing the pouring operation. In Fig.1, the reference numeral 1 indicates an elastic molding die, 2 indicates a die body, 3 indicates an opening of the die body, 4 indicates a film-formed die support portion extending from the opening to the outside, 5 indicates a ring-formed frame for holding an end of the die support portion, 6 indicates an introduction pipe for pouring in the fluid molding material, and 7 indicates the charged molding material. As described above, in the present invention, with the die body charged with the molding material in an amount of 1/5 to 3/5 of the volume of the die body, the molding material-charged portion of the die body is crumpled or pinched. In general, an elastic molding die often forms a fine pattern at a tip of the die body, and a so-called air void tends to occur at the fine-patterned tip portion. With the die body charged with the molding material in an amount of 1/5 to 3/5 of the volume of the die body, that is, in a condition that the tip portion of the elastic molding die is filled with the molding material, the molding material-charged portion is subjected to crumpling (rubbing) to remove the air void occurred at the fine-patterned portion. Further, by the crumpling operation, the charged fluid molding material spreads on the entire inner wall surface of the die body, that is, on the inner wall surface of unfilled portion of the die body, to wet the surface, and remove air between the die body and the molding material, and the remaining portion of the molding material, which is further poured in, can be smoothly charged. Thus, the molding material is charged in all parts of the die body, without making air voids even in a fine-patterned small projection of the die body. Therefore, the outer surface of the molding has no irregularities due to such air voids, and a product of good appearance of a predetermined design with no pinholes can be obtained. With the method of the present invention, the molding material can be charged into all parts of the die body without using means such as previously swelling the elastic molding die before filling. The crumpling operation of the present invention is achieved using various methods. This will be described with reference to the Examples. An example of crumpling or pinching operation uses two plates 31 and 32 shown in perspective views Figs. 2(a) and (b). That is, the molding material-charged portion of the die body is passed between the two plates 31 and 32 which are disposed at a spacing narrower than the charged portion. The two plates may be disposed to be the narrowest at the center as shown in Fig. 2(a), or may be disposed so that the entrance and the exit are wide as shown in Fig. 2(b) and other portions are parallel to each other to be narrower than the molding material-charged portion. By passing the molding material-charged portion of the die body between the two plates 31 and 32 disposed with a spacing narrower than the charged portion, the molding material in the die body is moved to be spread on the entire inner wall surface of the die body to wet the inner wall, and air between the die body and the molding material is removed. Further, instead of the two plates, two sets of conveyor belts may be used. Fig.3 is a schematic perspective view showing such an arrangement, in which the molding material-charged portion is passed between two conveyor belts 41 and 42. In the Figure, the reference numeral 43 indicates a roll, and 44 indicates a belt. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 4, the molding material-charged portion of the die body can alternatively be passed between rolls 51 and 52 disposed in two rows with a spacing narrower than the charged portion. The individual rolls are rotatably mounted. Utilizability in industry With the present invention, in molding a fluid molding material by an elastic molding die, even a molding material having a high viscosity such as molten chocolate can be charged to all parts of the die body without occurrence of an air void in a small projection of the die body. Therefore, a molding of a predetermined design of good appearance with no surface irregularities due to air voids occurred in charging can be obtained. With the present invention, the molding material can be charged to all parts of the die body without using means for previously inflating the elastic molding die.

Claims: A method for charging a molding material in an elastic molding die (1) comprised of a hollow die body (2) having an opening (3) and a film-formed die support portion (4) extending from said opening (3) to the outside wherein pouring of said fluid molding material from said opening (3) into said die body (2) comprises the following method steps: (a) first charging 1/5 to 3/5 of the volume of said die body (2) with a first quantity of the molding material (7); (b) processing the portion charged with the first quantity of the molding material (7); and (c) then charging the remainder of the volume of said die body (2) by filling up the entire portion of said die body (2) with the molding material (7); characterized in that said processing is a crumpling operation made such that the portion of the die body (2) charged with the first quantity of the molding material (7) is passed between (i) two plates (31, 32) or (ii) conveyor belts (41, 42) disposed in two rows or (iii) rollers (51, 52) disposed in two rows so that there are wider portions at the inlet and at the outlet and the portion between them is narrower. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the portion of the die body (2) charged with the first quantity of the molding material (7) is passed between the plates (31, 32) or conveyor belts (41, 42) or rollers (51, 52) disposed so that a central portion between the inlet and the outlet is the narrowest.

Inventors: HAMADA SATORU, HORIGUCHI ITARU, KOHNO HIROSHIGE, SATO ATSUSHI, TSUCHIYA OSAMU, WATANABE AKINORI, HAMADA, SATORU, HORIGUCHI, ITARU, KOHNO, HIROSHIGE, SATO, ATSUSHI, TSUCHIYA, OSAMU, WATANABE, AKINORI, HAMADA, SATORU, C/O ASAHI DENKA KOGYO K.K., KOHNO, HIROSHIGE, C/O ASAHI DENKA KOGYO K.K., TSUCHIYA, OSAMU, C/O ASAHI DENKA KOGYO K.K.
Applicants: ASAHI DENKA KOGYO KK, OKAMOTO IND INC, ASAHI DENKA KOGYO KABUSHIKIKAISYA, OKAMOTO INDUSTRIES, INC.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A23G1
IPC codes: A23L1, B29C39, A23G1, A61K8, A61Q1, A01J25, B29C33, A23G3